Sisters and Brothers,

Washington, D.C. – The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, along with students and other activists from around the country protested here Dec. 3 against the sentencing of Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera was convinced of ‘conspiracy to kidnap’ in July. The other false charges the government attempted to pin on him met with a hung jury.

Due to the great interest in the release of several detainees by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia’s largest rebel group, Fight Back! is circulating the following FARC statement.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera. We urge all our readers to support this campaign.

Washington D.C. – Professor Palmera appeared calm and confident as he entered the courtroom in an orange prison jumpsuit, Jan. 28. He listened with interest as U.S. prosecutor Ken Kohl repeatedly called him a ‘terrorist’ as he argued that Palmera should receive a life sentence.

President Bush and the U.S. government slapped the Colombian people in the face by imposing a 60-year prison term upon Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera is a hero of the Colombian people. He has dedicated his entire life to the struggle of peasants and workers. He is responsible for negotiating peace processes and humanitarian prisoner exchanges on behalf of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC) and was seized in Ecuador on such a mission.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera.

Raul Reyes, a leading member of the FARC – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – was killed by the U.S. backed Colombian government March 1. Fight Back! asked Jess Sundin, who traveled to Colombia and met with Raul Reyes, to give her impressions of him and to speak about the significance of his slaying. Sundin is a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and an important leader in Minnesota’s peace and justice movement.

His spirit and work will live forever

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Freedom Road Socialist Organization on the murder of Raul Reyes.

'A message to the people of the United States'

The following is a video interview of Raul Reyes, given in July, 2000. It was filmed by Jess Sundin, a Colombia solidarity activist and a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The following is a English translation of a few excerpts from Raul Reyes statement, which is in Spanish.